(Courtesy of Resorts)

Friday, Sept. 7, was a busy day for the winner of the 11th season of American Idol, Phillip Phillips.

The singer of the big hit “Home” was in Atlantic City for an American Idol Live! tour stop at Boardwalk Hall Friday night, along with the nine other finalists from the 11th season of the FOX show.

Before his gig at the big Hall on the Boardwalk, Phillips stopped into the Bayport One building in West Atlantic City for a private meet and greet and show for about 30 WAYV 91.5 FM listeners. (See photo gallery here)

He also popped into the Screening Room at Resorts for a private concert for about 50 contest winners via another South Jersey radio station — SoJo 104.9 FM.

Click here for last week’s cover story on the American Idol Live! concert at Boardwalk Hall featuring an interview with finalist Skylar Laine.

(Courtesy of Resorts)

Along with the recent announcement of the annual “American Idols Live!” tour coming to Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall in September (followed by Madonna on Sept. 15), the historic venue on the Atlantic City Boardwalk will host Carrie Underwood (with Hunter Hayes) on Nov. 9; Enrique Iglesias on July 29 and an Aug. 17 “Gigantes Tour” stop featuring Marc Anthony, Marco Antonio Solis and Chayanne.

Also slated for the Hall:

Mother’s Day Weekend Show w/ Charlie Wilson, Patti LaBelle and Johnny Gill: May 12

New Edition: May 27

Jimmy Buffett: Aug. 4

See all upcoming concerts in Atlantic City by clicking here.

Colton Dixon

On Idol’s ’80s night, Colton Dixon reigned supreme. His gorgeous and moving rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” sent him to the top of the standings as the favorite to win.

The other outstanding song performance of the night belonged to Joshua Ledet, the anti-Jacob, who has proven with his R&B/gospel mindset that you can be subtle at some moments and soar to the heavens the next. He did so with Simply Red’s version of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now.”

Skylar Laine went with classic cheese, Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings,” and although no one can deliver cheese and pure emotion like the “Divine Miss M,” Skylar did a lovely job in this change-of-pace ballad from the country rocker.

Jessica Sanchez went the bouncy pop route Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” but her dance moves seemed forced, although she is not at all in danger tonight.

Hollie Cavanagh on the other hand, might be in trouble. Her take on the classic movie theme “Flashdance … What A Feeling” did not connect at all with the energy and fun vibe of the song. It was so mechanical.

Because she isn’t a teen dream, Elise Testone has to bring it every week and after her fab “Whole Lotta Love” last week, she took a step backward with Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.”  I hope she hangs on.

In the middle of the pack was Phil Phillips, whose cover of  “That’s All” by Genesis lacked energy and was certainly one of his lesser performances.

DeAndre Brackensick gave one of his best performances yet with “I Like It” by DeBarge, but that is still damning with faint praise. He just isn’t in the same class as the top performers this season.

In trouble: Hollie, DeAndre, Elise

My top eight:
1.    Colton
2.    Joshua
3.    Skylar
4.    Jessica
5.    Phil
6.    Elise
7.    DeAndre
8.    Hollie

If you have been checking out the “comments” on popular Idol sites, in particular Entertainment Weekly, you know that the ousting of Pia Toscano was not that big a shocker, despite J-Lo’s tears. My favorite comment and one that makes sense to me talked about how Pia looks like she is in a pageant talent competition. Ouch!

But I know what the writer means. There was something so old-fashioned about Pia and while I know she is full of passion, it didn’t translate enough in her performance.

That said, I still would have sent Stefano Langone home.

Have to agree with bloggers who feel that the teenage girls and their text votes have made it nearly impossible for a woman to win Idol.

All we can do is stay tuned for next week’s drama.

Erika Schiff

On Friday, April 1, former American Idol contestant Erika Schiff and her trio will be performing at the Foundation Room Supper Club at Showboat’s House of Blues. The show starts at 10pm.

A native of the Philly suburbs (having attended William Tennent High School in Warminster, Pa.), Schiff made it all the way to American Idol’s Hollywood Week in Season 10, and has an album, In the Blonde, due out within the next few weeks.

The weekly Friday Night Supper Club series includes a great four course meal with wine and a live music performance for only $50 a person.

Pia Toscano

It was ladies night at American Idol. Several of them separated themselves from the pack, including an impressive 15-year-old, while a couple of others seemed to let nerves get the best of them.

Let’s start with the homeward bound contestants. Ta-Tynisa Wilson certainly sounded like she is going home tonight with a terrible rendition of “Only Girl (In The World)” by Rihanna.

Julie Zorrilla didn’t have the emotional chops to handle “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson, putting in the bottom of the ratings. I fear that Rachel Zevita is going home on her second shot at American Idol. She was all over the place — and not in a good way — with Fiona Apple’s “Criminal.”

A middle of the pack performance was turned in by Ashthon Jones with the Monica song, “Love Over Me.” Haley Reinhart has tons of talent and does her own thing, but she is also on the bubble after performing “Fallin,’” by Alicia Keys. It was good but not great.

Naima Adedapo, one of my pre-performance favorites, did a solid version of “Summertime” although she has showed off her jazzy voice better in previous performances. Kendra Chantelle was in the middle of the pack with her “Impossible” by Christina Aguilera. She has talent but is on the bubble.

Now let us turn to the best performances. Karen Rodriguez has the personality and the vocal chops to make it pretty far into the competition and she was outstanding with her bilingual interpretation of Mariah Carey’s “Hero.”

Lauren Turner is the blues queen of this competition, and she showed off her old school style with July Black’s version of Etta James’ “Seven Day Fool.”

The talented teen mentioned at the beginning of my recap is Thia Megia, who went back in time with “Out Here On My Own” from Fame (Let’s forget they made that terrible remake of the film in 2009). While some of the other performers tried to do too much with their vocals, Thia went with simplicity, beginning the song a cappella, which showed off the lovely clarity in her tone. She did more by doing less.

Lauren Alaina, 16, went country with her song selection and she nailed it doing “Turn on the Radio” by Reba McEntire. Her stage presence was impressive with plenty of sass. The kids are rising to the top.

The one contestant who matched and perhaps surpassed the teen Idol movement was the final performer of the night. Pia Toscano did a beautiful rendition of “I’ll Stand By You” by the Pretenders. She dominated the stage in the way that said, “I’m in it to win it.”

Tonight the ten finalists will be announced with the judges adding two wild card selections. For my ratings on the guys, go here.

My top twelve rankings:
1)    Pia Toscano
2)    Thia Megia
3)    Lauren Alaina
4)    Karen Rodriguez
5)    Haley Reinhart
6)    Lauren Turner
7)    Naima Adelapo
8)    Kendra Chantelle
9)    Julie Zorrilla
10)  Ashthon Jones
11)   Rachel Zevita
12)   Ta- Tynisa Wilson

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly.

It is finally time for the real phase of American Idol to begin. I’ve been observing the early rounds as a total of 125,000 hopefuls were whittled down to the 24 performers whose fortunes are now in the hands of the American public.

Right about now I am missing cranky Simon Cowell. Only veteran panelist Randy Jackson is keeping it real with constructive criticism. Paula Abdul was the original softie on the show, but even she was more levelheaded in her critiques compared to Jennifer “I love you all” Lopez. She is a real marshmallow who doesn’t want to criticize anybody. Come on, J-Lo. This is a talented bunch but they aren’t perfect.

Casey Abrams

Surprisingly enough, Steven Tyler is nearly as much of a rah-rah fan as Lopez. If you scream when you sing, you have a friend in Tyler. That said some of the screamers are the most talented singers on the male side of the ledger. The 12 gents on display last night are an eclectic bunch, in particular the older singers from the group, the crazy, quirky Paul McDonald, whose offbeat vibe was put to good use singing Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May” and sexy teddy bear Casey Abrams, who put a spell on J-Lo and the audience with his terrific rendition of “I Put A Spell On You.”

Randy didn’t say it so I will. Casey was “da bomb.”

Stefano Langone is this year’s “adorable” contestant and unlike last year’s Tim Urban, he can really sing. He nailed Bruno Mars’ romantic “Just The Way You Are.” One of my early favorites, Robbie Rosen, was, as Randy pointed out, “pitchy” during his take on Sarah McLaughlin’s “Angel.”

Crazy teen redhead Brett Loewenstern, 16, earned plenty of praise from J-Lo and Steven T. for his version of The Doors’ “Light My Fire,” but I thought it was one of the weakest of the night and Randy said so. Rocker wannabe James Durbin proved he had the chops for the role with his take on “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” delighting Tyler with his offbeat Judas Priest song selection.

Scotty McCreery has already had enough exposure to get a chance to make a country album thanks to his sexy, low voice. He continued his march to CMT stardom with a nice cover of John Michael Montgomery’s “Letter From Home.”

Tim Halperin was another of my early favorites during Beatles week in Las Vegas, but he made a horrible song choice with “Streetcorner Symphony (Come On Over)” by Rob Thomas. The song did nothing to show off his fine voice.

A total failure of a performance was turned in by Jordan Dorsey, who came off as karaoke-ish with “OMG” by Usher. Karaoke DJ Clint Jun Gamboa’s rendition of “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder was a bit too much screaming for my taste but he does have talent. Jovany Barreto’s “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain sounded good if you are working a piano lounge.

Jacob Lusk is a little over-the-top but he can really sing and proved it with an excellent song choice, Luther Vandross’ “A House Is Not A Home.”

My top 12
1)    Casey Abrams
2)    Stefano Langone
3)    James Durbin
4)    Paul McDonald
5)    Jacob Lusk
6)    Scotty McCreery
7)    Robbie Rosen
8)    Tim Halperin
9)    Clint Jun Gamboa
10)  Brett Loewenstern
11)   Jovany Barreto
12)  Jordan Dorsey

Crystal Bowersox.

This season’s group of American Idols made their Atlantic City visit Saturday, July 10, at the Trump Taj Mahal.

For a review of the show, go here.

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

First off, I was apparently very wrong about interest in the Olympic Winter Games, as discussed in my last Hump Day Report. The ratings are a ratings bonanza for NBC and in fact, coverage of the games even toppled American Idol. Last Wednesday when American Idol was revealing its Top 24, Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White and Shani Davis had TV viewers switching to the Games. It was Idol’s lowest ratings night since 2004. Overnight ratings showed the Olympics with 30.1 million viewers (9.0 rating/22 share) to American Idol’s 18.4 million (6.9 rating/17 share). Idol had nearly 7 million more viewers for the comparable show in 2009. However, the night before, when America’s big stars weren’t in the spotlight, Idol did win the time slot. And, yesterday’s overnight ratings had Idol averaging 24 million total viewers, compared to 20.8 million for the Olympics during the same 8-10pm timeslot.

*******

Katie Stevens

Speaking of Idol, I’m on the fence when it comes whether this year’s contestants are as good as or better than previous years. I will, however, join the “Paula Who?” bandwagon and vote for Ellen DeGeneres as the best addition to this year’s show. She is funny, honest and talks in a language we can understand.

As for the contestants, since we saw the ladies last night, my favorites so far are the two women at the extremes of the competition. Folk rocker Crystal Bowersox is the anti-Idol. She is not an Idol type and has admitted she never watched the show that much before she decided she needed to get a bigger paycheck. She is in it for the money and the exposure and she has the talent to stay around, but not the “cute” factor to keep the Twitter generation coming back for more. Still, you can’t deny the talent she showed with her version of Alanis Morissette’s ”Hand in My Pocket.”

(more…)

Does he seem nicer?

American Idol has returned this week as the swan song for Simon Cowell. Is it just me or does Simon seem less vitriolic than in previous seasons? Of course it is early. I don’t usually watch the auditions since I know I’ll see the best singers in Hollywood and frankly, I’m embarrassed by the bad ones. Why do their parents encourage some of these obviously horrible singers to audition? Are they as self-deluded as their kids? Tearstained contestants are not my idea of fun television.

As for the new vibe with no Paula Abdul, I can’t say it feels that much different. Victoria Beckham, considering her status as a former Spice Girl, was a pretty bland substitute. She hardly said anything during the Boston auditions.

Mary J. Blige, who filled in as the fourth judge during the Atlanta auditions, brought something to the judges’ table.

And, I know they like to have fun with the bad singers, but did we really have to see so much of Jesse Hamilton with his three “near death” experiences that were then reenacted like some bad YouTube footage. Gee, and you wonder why Southerners are sick and tired of jokes about marrying cousins.